MY PHILOSOPHY OF PATENT PRACTICE
My
philosophy of practice has not changed much since I first posted this document
on the wall at our Offices at 917 Duke Street in 1995.
About
the only change I have made is to concentrate more on preparing and prosecuting
patent applications myself, rather than try to hire other people to do that
work. When I first hung out my shingle
in 1994, I modeled my practice on what I knew at the time – the large patent
law firms I had worked for However,
over time, I realized that is not the sort of practice I really wanted.
Being
an employer is no fun, and if you are not enjoying your job, then there is
something seriously wrong. What I like
about this business is the writing, and as a “rainmaker” for three Associates,
I found I had less and less time to write and was spending more time
supervising and revising the work of others.
While I was putting in long hours, I was not making appreciably more money.
My
hat goes off to those who want to start and build a large law firm. It is a lot of hard work. However, as my original philosophy shows, I
was never comfortable with the idea of exploiting any army of “minions”
(Associates) for profit, which is what you must do to build a large, successful
firm.
Today,
my overhead is almost zero, which means I have nothing but time on my hands to
concentrate on serving clients with “quality, contemplative work”. I do not need to make a billable hour quota
to meet the needs of some Partner or to cover overhead. As a result, I enjoy my practice much more
than I ever did as somebody’s Associate or as somebody’s employer.
In
addition, I have a lot more time for other interests and hobbies,
which result in my being a more well-rounded person. I also now have the opportunity to travel more, which allows me
to visit my clients throughout the country and have a better understanding of
the world. Life is short. Enjoy it to the fullest.
--Bob.
December
21, 2001.